Three Birmingham men have been jailed for sending equipment to terrorists fighting British soldiers on the Afghan and Pakistan border.

Mohammed Nadim, 29, was jailed for three years and Shahid Ali, 34, and Shabir Mohammed, 30, were sent to prison for two years and three months.

They pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to supplying equipment such as computer parts, mobile phones and camping gear, to terrorists abroad.

A fourth man, Abdul Raheem, 32, pleaded guilty to failing to disclose information on terrorism and was jailed for a year.

The four were members of a terror cell run by Parviz Khan who was jailed for life last year for plotting to kidnap and behead a soldier.

They helped Khan sent four shipments containing 86 boxes of supplies between April 2006 and February 2007.

But Nadim, of Denville Crescent, Bordesley Green; Ali, of Bromford Lane, Ward End; and Mohammed, of Benton Road, Sparkhill, claimed to have known nothing of Khan's plot to kill a soldier in the UK.

Raheem, of Johnson Close, Ward End, knew about the shipments but failed to tip off the police.

He was formerly called Antonio Edmondson and was a new convert to Islam. He was said to be eager to be accepted into the community in Birmingham.

The judge, Mr Calvert-Smith, said the 2005 earthquake which killed thousands in Pakistan was used as a cover to export the goods. He told the men: "It is tragic for you and your families that you chose to get involved in this operation.

"The leader was a fanatic with a strong personality and good force of persuasion which he must have exerted on you."

Khan admitted involvement in the preparation and delivery of the equipment and had gone to Pakistan to supervise their distribution, said Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting.

He said Khan masterminded the operation involving the defendants and others from his home in Foxton Road, Birmingham.

Raheem visited him there in September 2006 and showed solidarity in secretly

recorded conversations. He had also expressed the wish to be a suicide bomber, and discussed kidnapping aid workers in Pakistan. He told Khan: "Five of them is worth one brother in Guantanamo Bay."

Mr Atkinson said the items were sent to be used against British, American and Pakistani forces. He said: "The items are not weapons which are all too easily obtained in the lawless tribal areas.

"They are sending sophisticated electronic equipment readily available in Western shops and not in the Third World."

Khan, described as a "fanatical extremist", identified items which were needed and even came back from Pakistan with "shopping lists" of what was needed.

Members of the cell would buy items from the Argos catalogue and even cut-price supermarkets such as Netto and Lidl.

Balaclavas and thermal clothing would be included with computer software and night-vision binoculars, the court heard.

The shipments were described as household items, relief aid and charity donations.

Mr Atkinson said tens of thousands of pounds had been collected from people, who thought they were helping earthquake victims, to pay for the items.

A local firm, Sparkhill Shipping, was paid £2,600 to send the items to Pakistan.

Khan told Nadim: "The person who has got the money fights for Islam."

He would get the same reward as "someone stuck on a cold mountain".

Khan also described his equipment shipments as "the tools doing the will of Allah".

Khan was given a 14-year minimum life sentence at Leicester Crown Court in February last year. He was also given eight years concurrently for supplying equipment.

Three other men were given sentences ranging from three to seven years for the same offence.